Located on an unassuming street corner in the Grünerløkka neighboorhood, Tim Wendelboe is considered to be not just one of the best coffee houses in Oslo, but in the world.

How serious is Tim Wendelboe about coffee? Very. It’s much more than just about a retail coffee outlet. It’s about educating people on coffee, sustainability and social responsibility. It’s about helping coffee farmers in all parts of the world produce a better product and make a good living doing it. Tim has their own channel on Vimeo with some great videos on a variety of these topics.

The shop is small and seats about 6-8 people. It also has a small coffee counter where you can fit about three or four more. It’s easiest, to get your coffee to go if the shop is busy. A coffee roaster is located right in the middle of the small shop. Next to the shop, is a small, separate tasting room, where at 1PM on Saturdays, they offer a cupping session for a small number of guests. Due to our schedule, we weren’t able to attend during this visit to Oslo, but you can be sure that we will during our next visit.

The espresso here is fantastic. The selection changes from time to time. The employees are extremely knowledgeable about the espresso and coffee they serve. You can ask them just about any question and they’ll have the answer.

We loved Tim Wedelbhoe and well be back. And yes, their coffee is THAT good.

Hotel Cervo is one of the top hotels in Zermatt. It’s location is perfect, the rooms are exquisite and the staff, phenomenal.

Location:Hotel Cervo is located towards the south end of town, right at the Sunnegga lift train. The ski run empties out right in front of the hotel as well. It’s super convenient. If you’re skiing or mountain biking, you’re less than 5 minutes to the ski train. You can be in the center of Zermatt in less than 15 minutes, to the train station in 10. Walking is simple and easy, although you can also take a taxi. Expect to pay around 10 -20 CHF during peak times one way for a taxi ride into town. It’s slightly cheaper to catch the taxi in front of the Sunnegga ticket office. Taxi’s tend to take advantage of the fact that you’re staying at the Hotel Cervo.

Rooms:Rooms at Hotel Cervo are amazing. Rooms are spread out amongst five chalets across the property. Each chalet has 4-5 floors. On the lowest floor on the least expensive rooms, as well as the wellness area consisting of a spa treatment room, relaxation area, steam room, sauna, bucket shower and outdoor jacuzzi. There are around 7 rooms per chalet, with the better rooms being on the upper floors. For the best, completely unobstructed views of the Matterhorn and Zermatt, you’re best bets are either the Owner’s Lodge or Chalet 5. All chalets have views of the Matterhorn, but can be somewhat obstructed by trees, especially during warm months.

During our stay, we had the fortune of being able to stay in the Owner’s Lodge for one night and a Junior Suite for the following four nights.

Looking from the living room of the Owner’s Lodge into the kitchen and out onto the west deck.

The Owner’s Lodge is unbelievable. It shares it’s own chalet building with the Spa Suite. You can rent out both rooms and have an entire building to yourself. The Owner’s Lodge portion of the building has an elevator that accesses all four floors. Stairs are also available. Regular bedrooms are located on various levels, with the mater bedroom and bath on the top floor. There’s also a small game room on this floor as well. The master bedroom is outfitted with a king size Hasten’s bed and a large deck with wide open views of the Matterhorn. The master bath has a large soaking tub, two person sauna, and large shower. The same deck in the bedroom wraps to the bathroom with the awesome views. One floor down is a large, full size kitchen with all appliances, including an espresso maker. There’s a small office area with another large patio/deck facing the Matterhorn. Outside on that deck is your own private jacuzzi. There’s a dining room for 12 and large living room with premium sound system and large flat screen television. You could live here. And live comfortably.

The bedroom in the Junior Suite at Hotel Cervo.

The Junior Suite is also nice. They’re located in almost every chalet. The have large decks on two sides and face the Matterhorn. The bedrooms are good sized, with king size beds, a TV and plenty of underbed storage for ski clothing, etc. There’s a double-sided fireplace between the bedroom and living room. The living room is also large, with a large sectional, espresso machine and huge closet that can store all of the clothing and gear you can throw at it. A large safe for valuables is also included. In the bathroom, there’s a soaking tub, single sink, separate water closet and another large closet for hanging things, as well as storage drawers. Oh, and the most important thing, radiant heated floors are throughout the entire room.

Rooms are cleaned daily, followed by turn down service in the late afternoon/early evening. Towels are refreshed, curtains drawn and the bed turned down. You also get a small gift each day, along with a list of events and weather coming up on the following day.

Facilities & Service:Facilities at Hotel Cervo are everything you could want. A great, well respected restaurant helmed by the owner’s wife. Reservations are required, even if you’re a guest during high season. Breakfast is also served here as well. A large year-round bar area outside, both slope side and above that on the patio. Large wool blankets, pillows and a large fireplace keep you warm, even in the coldest of weather. There’s a small inside lounge as well, with a separate small bar area. You can order tapas as well as drinks in any of the bar locations.

If you’re here to ski or bike, there’s a large heated storage room that secured by card key to keep your gear.

As mentioned above, there’s a wellness area on the lower floor of each chalet. It’s open from 3:30-11PM daily. Massages and spa treatments can be arranged as needed. Since each chalet has its own wellness area, you’re never fighting for the jacuzzi, sauna or relaxation area. We hardly ever saw anyone in the area every night we were there and the hotel was booked to capacity.

Staff here are amazing. Nothing is too much trouble. They’ll handle anything you need. And I mean anything. The hotel is allowed to sell lift tickets, so you can avoid any lines at the ticket office. They’ll make reservations at other spots in town to eat as well. Daniel, the owner, spoke with us several times during our stay to make sure everything was satisfactory.

Pros: Everything. Your right on the ski run, as well as 5 minutes from the ski train.

Cons: None, really. Other than this is one of the most popular places in Zermatt. You need to reserve months in advance if you want your choice of room. It would also be nice if the wellness area opened earlier, especially for those days when you didn’t choose to ski.

Back in January, we started testing of the Dark Energy Reservoir to use as a backup charging source for our iPads and iPhones while traveling. The results are in and we’re thrilled.

Overall: This charger worked like a champ. It charged quickly, efficiently and lasted forever. If you don’t have one of these and you travel, you’re crazy. We won’t leave home without this whenever we travel.

Testing time: 90 days

Device Charging Capability: Our results were slightly better than as advertised. On several occasions, we charged two iPhone 5s, one after the other, while they were powered on and used only 1/3 of the chargers capacity. Each of the phones had less than 18% power at the time we started charging. Both were charged in less than 90 minutes to 100% capacity. The charging was conducted while in our coat pockets skiing and walking around the city in temperatures of less than 30 degrees.

As to charging an iPad, we charged an iPad 2 that had 26% battery life remaining and it used less than 1/2 of the charge available in the reservoir. The iPad was powered on, but not running any apps while charging. We left it charging at room temperature. We did this a couple other times in similar situations (while the iPad had between 20-40% remaining charge) and less than half of the reservoirs power was used.

What we loved: First, it’s light weight and easy to carry. At around 5 ounces, it’s super light. It easily fit into our coat pockets with an iPhone attached via the iPhone charging cable. It was still easy to use the phone as it was attached to the charger.

The charging time for connected devices was more than adequate. To be able to be out all day and not worry about trying to find an outlet to charge your device was great. Also, being able to leave your device on while charging was great as well.

The Dark Energy device itself was pretty quick to recharge. When it first arrived, it took a while to charge, about 5-6 hours. But on subsequent recharges, usually less than an hour or so, with about 1/3 of capacity used. We never let it get below that before recharging.

The PCMag Review: We did our research before we ordered the Dark Energy Reservoir. After reading the PC Mag review, we were a bit skeptical. It goes to show you take each review with a grain of salt. It didn’t bother us at all that there weren’t any cables included, other than the charging cable for the device itself. We have plenty of cables for our devices, who needs to pack more? As to being pricey, for the value it provides, I think the Dark Energy Reservoir is a great value. It works as advertised (if not better) and has a one-year replacement warranty. It charges devices fast and charges fast itself. Plus, it’s lightweight. That’s key when traveling.

Right up front, in the interest of full disclosure, we’ve never stepped foot in any of the Herkimer coffee locations. But, we know their coffee is some of the best you can get.

We first had Herkimer espresso at Crema here in Denver. We were hooked. We instantly became an online customer. Herkimer coffee spends more time in our espresso machine than any other espresso. The flavor is amazing. We always get their standard espresso, which they describe as “layers of flavor and texture starting with a sweet meyer lemon acidity, black cherry and marionberry fruitiness in deep tamarind chocolate liqour with spicy cardamom, clove and fresh tobacco mixed in. Bridging the gap between the old world and new with direct source relationships, high elevation coffees, and blending for balance in a complete espresso.”

Don’t wait till you make a trip to Seattle to try Herkimer. Just order it online now. You won’t be disappointed.

Barista Portland is hands down the best coffee in the city. Every time we visit Portland, we visit Barista. Sometimes more than once a day. It’s that good.

Serving coffee and espresso from various roasters, everything here is alway top notch. The service is always friendly and everyone here is extremely knowledge about coffee. I don’t think you could stump them with any question you might have. You can buy a variety of beans in store or online. In addition to coffee, they have a great selection of pastries. One thing you can’t miss are the baked goods from local purveyor, Two Tarts.

We always visit the SW 3rd location. It’s great because they have a bar height table the length of the window facing 3rd, so you can enjoy your coffee and watch the interesting sideshow of people walk down the street.

Blue Bottle Coffee has some of the best coffee. Ever. Anywhere. As the Village Voice says, its “Coffee as Crack”. Starting in San Francisco, but now having spread to New York City, it continues to grow and for good reason. This coffee is that good.

Blue Bottle Coffee serves all of it’s coffee within 48 hours of roasting. With roasting facilities on both coasts, beans are roasted nearby each group of stores. And what a selection. Cafe’s are on the small side, so sometimes you’ll encounter a line at peak times. There isn’t a ton of sitting area in any of them, so if it’s busy, you’ll either wait to sit or get your coffee to go.

Just about any coffee or espresso you get here is phenomenal. You can get it in just about any form or fashion. Simple espresso. Pour over. Chemex. French press. Drip. Moka pot. Cold brew. Nel drip. The list goes on and on. Every bean they roast is of high quality. Our favorites? Hayes Valley and 17 ft Ceiling are two of our favorite espresso beans.

You can buy beans in the store, but we’ve had times where not every blend of beans you want may be available. But don’t despair. You can order all of their beans on-line. Be aware that their coffee is shipped in simple paper bags, so it’s designed to be used quickly. It’s really our only complaint. We wish they’d use a vacuum sealed bag to at least preserve the coffee for awhile, but we understand their reasons for quality control.

Wow! We were extremely impressed with La Colombe Coffee. This is some of the best espresso in New York City. We stumbled on the SOHO location, looked it up on Yelp! and decided we’d give it a try. And, we’re glad we did. Whether you like straight up espresso, lattes or other espresso based drinks, you’ll love it. Better than Ninth Street, joe, Jack’s Stir Brew and Everyman, this is your place.

Espresso: La Colombe roasts their own beans. With 4 regular varieties and various custom blends, the range of taste profiles is amazing. We tried the Nizza and found it excellent. While we usually like a darker roast, this was very smooth and was the perfect shot of espresso. The barista advised us that next time, we should try the Corsica, which is a darker roast, just to compare.

Location: The SOHO location can get extremely crowded because if its location on Lafayette. There’s not much room to sit or stand, but you can wedge your way to the counter. The Tribeca location has much more sitting area and room to enjoy your coffee.

In addition to the New York locations listed above, La Colombe has locations in Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington DC and Seoul, South Korea.

Beans: You can buy beans at each location, or order on line. Buy a 12 oz bag of beans in a store and you can get a free copy of La Colombe magazine. Prices are extremely reasonable for this quality of coffee and average about a $1 oz for most classic blends. They also offer coffee by subscription to save even more.

Wow.That’s the best word to describe the Four Seasons at Sharm El Sheikh. The Four Seasons Sharm is an oasis of calm in the desert. It’s one of those places where you don’t really care if you ever leave the resort. It’s that good. We visited here in late November, during the midst of the turmoil in Cairo. The Sinai is a world away from all those problems. We stayed here on the recommendation of friends who visited here a couple of years before. They said we wouldn’t be disappointed and we weren’t. Many of the guests that stay here are from the EU, UK or Russia. A few Australians and US folks make up the rest. Our review of the spa is separate and can be found here.

Location:Four Seasons Sharm is located a mere 5-7 minute drive from the Sharm el Sheikh airport. We used transfers arranged by the hotel. You’re about a 10-15 minute taxi ride to the heart of Na’ama Bay and about 20-30 minutes to Sharm el Sheikh itself. We only ventured from the resort a few times. We really found all that we needed right here. There are a few other resorts located nearby, however most are a 5-10 minute walk or more from the resort. The resort faces the Red Sea with a good beach and a full on-site dive facility.

Security:The Four Seasons takes security seriously at all of its resorts. The entrance to the resort is a good distance away from the main building and any rooms. There’s a 24 hour guard, as well as automatic barriers at the entrance. Cars are screened before accessing the premise, taxis are not allowed inside the front gate and baggage of visitors is screened outside the main reception entrance. In addition the perimeter of the resort is fenced. We never felt the least bit unsafe.

Rooms:Our superior room was large and well appointed. There was plenty of room to stretch out and relax. The room included a king bed, sitting area, built-in sofa, along with a desk, table and chairs. There’s a large connecting hallway leading toward the bathroom that contains a full walk-in closet, plus large storage closetson the opposite side. There’s a large safe for your belongings and a small area for coffee and tea. The bathroom was also large with two sinks, an enclosed toilet area, large soaking bath tub and shower. As with all Four Seasons locations, you get a very nice sized room for the money.

Facilities:What doesn’t this hotel have. The surroundings are typical Four Seasons. Lush, green with wandering paths and fountains everywhere. Even though this resort has 136 rooms, their spread out across a wide area of the resort in smaller buildings, so you hardly even know anyone else is there. There are four pools, tennis courts, a full service spa, large fitness room, on-site diving facility, five restaurants and three bars. What else could you need?

We ate at all of the restaurants on the property. Our favorite was the Reef Grill, an open air restaurant on the shores of the Red Sea. Once a week, the Reef has fish market night, where you can select your fresh fish on ice and have it cooked to your liking. We had the breakfast buffet every morning at Arabesque and what a buffet it was. It had American European and Eqyptian specialties that were unbelievable. One night during dinner at Arabesque, you could watch them making pita bread fresh near your table. Il Frantolo is their more formal restaurant located in the main reception building. It has an Italian flare and a very nice courtyard for dining. It had the best Tiramisu we’ve had just about anywhere. Two restaurants are located by the major pool areas and have a very typical resort lunch and dinner menu. The food here was of the same high quality as food on the rest of the resort.

Staff:The staff at the Four Seasons makes everything look effortless. If only all resorts had this level of service. Everyone at the resort was very friendly and always said “Hello”. Room cleaning was done quickly and efficiently as was the daily turndown service. By the pool, various small complimentary snacks were brought by throughout the day, as was complimentary sunglass cleaning. The staff at the Dive Center were very knowledgeable and very thorough. Spa staff were also very friendly and helpful.

Pros: If you’re going to Sharm, why stay anywhere else? This resort has everything you need for a self-contained vacation, along with phenomenal views of the Red Sea.

Cons:There really aren’t any. Even though you’re a way from town, it’s still easy and relatively inexpensive to go in when and if you need to. Security may be a concern for some, be we never felt unsafe the entire time we were here.

You can see all of our photos and videos from the hotel, the Sinai and Egypt by clicking here.

The Inn of the Five Graces is simply put, amazing. 24 unique rooms, no two alike, spread on both sides of the street in a myriad of historic buildings, dating back to the 1600s. Another big plus is free parking (almost impossible to find in downtown Santa Fe) and a no gratuity policy.

LocationIf you’ve been to Santa Fe before, you’ll wonder how you ever missed this place just three blocks from the square. Sitting just off Old Santa Fe Trail, the signs are off of the street, so it’s difficult to spot. That’s part of the magic of this place. Secluded, yet walking distance to everything that is Santa Fe, including not only the historic square, but also the Canyon Road art district. The street running directly in front of the hotel is one way, so the best thing to do is map it out before you leave. It can be the hardest, easiest place to find.

RoomsOut of the 24 rooms, no two are the same. Some are single rooms of smaller size, while other larger rooms actually are multi-room suites with small kitchens and two baths. Each room is uniquely furnished with antiques from the owner’s huge antique shop, located near the square (Seret’s). Rooms are located in several small buildings along two sides of the street. Some buildings have one or two rooms, while others have 6 or 8. Most rooms share a courtyard and some have multiple entrances. Upon arrival, we were upgraded to the Cottonwood Suite, which included a bedroom with bath, small kitchen, 1/4 bath and a large living area. A stone-covered traditional kiva type fireplace was located in the living area and a wood burning stove was located in the bedroom. Some rooms are located in adobe style buildings dating back to the 1600s, with walls over 12-18″ thick. It makes for a quiet retreat and also stays very temperate, no matter what the weather outside. The Five Graces also allows pets with a nightly charge. Rooms include all of the amenities, including DVD player, CD/iPhone/iPod player and TV. Fully stocked mini-bars (non-alcoholic) are included in the room rate. You’ll find a wide selection of soft drinks, candy bars, snack bars and bottled water refreshed daily.

FacilitiesIn the main reception building, there’s several large sitting/relaxation areas with large overstuffed chairs and sofas. There are computers that you can use as well as a couple of large TVs and a fireplace. Also in the same building is the breakfast area. Breakfast is included in most room rates and the selection of items is typical. The bonus here is that you can order as much as you want from the menu. Plus, if they can, they’ll also create a non-menu dish if you like with a bit of notice. Right outside the breakfast area is a large courtyard, where in nice weather, you can dine outside. The hotel also serves drinks throughout the day. There is a new, modern exercise room located in a separate building. It’s small, but all of the equipment is new. Spa services are also available at the hotel, on a pre-reserved basis. We had a massage while we were here and it was very, very good. They use a large, quite room, well appointed and larger than most treatment rooms. The hotel is associated with a restaurant located directly across the street, 315 Bistro. You can order room service or take a short 2 minute walk and dine in.

StaffEveryone here was extremely pleasant and helpful. Almost everyone knows you by name, even if you’ve never seen them before. The staff has a vast knowledge of the Santa Fe area and can recommend things to do and sights to see.

ProsJust about everything. There really isn’t any reason you shouldn’t stay here. Five Graces has just about everything you could want or need.

ConsOne downside, can be cost. In high season, this place is extremely popular and discounts are few and far between.

Book for dates in the off season, November – April for significant discounts on rooms.

You can see our photo album of Santa Fe by clicking here. Below are some photos of the Inn of Five Graces.

If you’re planning a multi-day trip to the Rioja region of Spain, this is where you want to stay. In fact, you’ll probably never want to leave! And what about the name? Erletxe is Euskerian (Basque) for “Bee House”. Maria raises bees a few miles away at the foot of the Santa Cantabria mountains. She has a “honey room” just off the courtyard of the house and you can sample fresh honey at breakfast each morning.

Location: Erletxe is located in the village of Laguardia. The three story house is built along the exterior fortress walls that date back centuries. Laguardia does not allow cars into the village proper, so access is by foot through one of the city gates or via a garage door on the exterior.

Rooms: Every room here is fantastic. You’ll feel like you’re in your own home. Some have more room than others and most have an ensuite bath. Some face the interior courtyard, some into the village and a couple overlook the vineyards of Rioja. Most rooms are simply furnished and have large beds. There’s ample closet space in each and most have desks, nightstands and windows to let in the fresh outside air. One thing to be aware of is there is no TV, no clock radios or any other items you may be used to in a regular hotel room.

Facilities: There’s a large common area living room on the second floor that’s furnished with lots of interesting things from the families worldwide travels. There’s a large TV with DVD player along with Wi-Fi to access the internet. The Wi-Fi signal does not reach all the rooms, so you’re best chance for access is here. Downstairs, there’s a large breakfast room with a small library of books you can read during your stay. There’s also a one-person elevator, which will make getting your luggage to the top floors a lot easier than climbing the stairs.

Each morning there’s a home-style Spanish breakfast served for a couple of hours. Outside, there’s a large enclosed courtyard with outdoor tables and chairs where you can unwind with a glass of wine. Restaurants in Laguardia are all less than 3-4 minutes walk from Erletxe. If you’re driving, be aware that since cars are not allowed inside of Laguardia, all parking is outside the exterior walls of the village. Parking here can be brutal, as you’re competing with residents and there’s only so much parking at the top of the hill where the village sits.

Staff: Maria is the ultimate host. She’s lived in this area for many years and knows just about everything there is to know about the area, Spain and beyond. You’ll feel like you’re spending time with your family while you’re at Erletxe.

Pros: If you want to experience Spain like a local, this is how and where you do it.

Cons: The only downside is it may be a bit noisy inside the house with other guests. Many of the rooms on the 2nd floor, open out into a central hallway. If you want a bit more privacy, rent the bedroom on the first floor. It’s close to the entrance and it’s the only bedroom on the main floor.

Book early. Erletxe is a top-rated place to stay in this area on TripAdvisor so it books up months in advance. Also, if you’re traveling with others, consider renting the entire house.